The Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, Southwest Nigeria on Thursday, dismissed an application filed by the Akwa Ibom State Governor, Emmanuel Udom, seeking to quash the entire charge preferred against Paul Usoro, SAN, President, Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
Usoro was charged alongside Udom and others in a case of money laundering to the tune of N1.4 billion, belonging to the Akwa Ibom State government.
The NBA President was first arraigned before Justice Muslim Hassan of the same court on December 18, 2018.
He was later re-arraigned before Justice Aikawa on a 10- count charge.
One of the counts reads: “That you, Paul Usoro, SAN, Emmanuel Udom (currently constitutionally immune against criminal prosecution), Uwemedimo Thomas Nwoko (still at large), Nsikan Linus Nkan, Commissioner of Finance, Akwa Ibom State (still at large), Mfon Jacobson Udomah, Accountant-General, Akwa Ibom State (still at large) and Margaret Thompson Ukpe (still at large) sometime in 2015 in Nigerian, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable court, conspired amongst yourselves to commit an offence, to wit: conversion of the sum of N1. 410, 000, 000, 000.00 (One Billion, Four Hundred and Ten Million Naira), property of the Government of Akwa Ibom State of Nigeria, which sum you reasonably ought to have known forms part of the proceeds of an unlawful activity to wit: criminal breach of trust and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 18(a) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 as amended and punishable under Section 15(3) of the same Act.”
At today’s sitting, Justice Justice Rilwan Aikawa, in his ruling, held that the application filed by Udom lacked merit due to the fact that the charge before the court did not include the Governor and his aides as defendants.
